Never Let This Go
by Bambi23
Summary: In which a strange dog appears in Arthur's chambers thus leading to fluffiness and slashy goodness.
1. Chapter 1

There were many things that could (and did) upset Prince Arthur, but if there was one thing that Arthur couldn't stand; it was when Merlin wasn't doing his bloody job.

Merlin hadn't been around all damn day and Arthur had no idea where he was. He checked Gaius' chambers but Gaius said he hadn't seen him since earlier that morning, he checked the kitchen, the courtyard, even the bloody tavern, yet his idiot manservant was nowhere to be found.

As anyone would expect, Arthur couldn't search for his manservant all day. He had things to do, princely things, to be exact.

Of course, his _princely things_ were much harder to without Merlin.

He had to train future knights, go to a council meeting with his father (which he was not at all looking forward to), prepare for a dubbing ceremony done for a young lad who was now ready to become a proud knight of Camelot, and then attend an important feast again accompanying his father.

As you would imagine, Arthur didn't even _think_ about doing of all this on his own. He just had another servant take Merlin's place until he decided to show up (and when Merlin did he would be in for one hell of a lecture, and would most likely have a few shoes or something thrown at his head).

After a long hard day of work the Prince was aching all over, his muscles protesting every movement.

When he got back to his chambers he half way expected Merlin to be standing there grinning shyly and hoping that maybe, _just maybe_, Arthur hadn't noticed the fact that he was gone _all fucking day_; but to his slight surprise he wasn't. No tall, goofy looking boy, with ridiculously large ears, standing in his room, no note stating where Merlin was and when he would be back, not even a single hint that anyone had been there all day (other than Arthur, of course).

Arthur sighed heavily, and plopped onto his bed, the coolness of his sheets soothing his aching back. Arthur laid there for a while, just enjoying the silence and peace of being alone, until he heard it, it was a faint somewhat distant noise, but a noise nonetheless.

Arthur was at full alert within seconds, springing off of his bed, hands pulling a sword out of its sheath effortlessly. Arthur didn't know where the noise had come from or even _what_ it was, honestly the noise was so quiet he had no idea where he should be looking. Until he heard it again, a little louder this time, it was coming from behind his wooden folding screen.

Arthur tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword; he stalked towards the screen quietly making almost no noise as he moved. Arthur inhaled a sharp breath before pushing the folding screen aside.

The moment he saw what was behind it he didn't know whether to curse or laugh; so he did both.

It was a dog, a large slender, black dog with large ears; the top of his head down to the length of his snout was white, his paws were white, as was the tip of his tail, and he had white patch on his chest that Arthur swore looked identical to the outline of a dragon. The dog had a red scarf (that looked identical to the one Merlin whore) on and had deep blue eyes that looked all too familiar to Arthur. Arthur stared at the animal curiously, how the thing had gotten in his chambers, he had no idea but honestly Arthur didn't care. The dog was a sight hound, bred for their speed and hunting skills, Camelot had a few around (mostly for hunting) but Arthur had never seen this one before.

For a while Arthur just stared, and the dog stared back, Arthur didn't know why, but he felt like he knew the dog, like he was connected to him, and the dog's eyes, they were all too familiar, they were curious and loyal, and loving and- Arthur was snapped out of his thoughts when the dog barked.

Arthur shook his head and examined the dog once more, wondering why the dog didn't just _move _already but then he found his answer, the dog was tied.

It was a thin rope tying the dog in his spot, one end tied to a leather buckle just under the dogs scarf and the other end tied to… nothing. There was nothing there tying the dog down, yet the dog couldn't move.

Arthur sighed, confused and frustrated. The dog barked again, louder this time, like he was just as frustrated as Arthur was and obviously wanted to get untied so he could actually _move_. "Alright, Alright." Arthur huffed. "Keep it down; I don't want anybody to know you're here, not 'til I figure out _why_ you're here."

He could figure out what the hell was going on later, for now the dog was his main priority.

It didn't take long to untie the rope from the dogs collar, when he finished he stood up from his kneeling position (that he hadn't even known he'd taken) and took a few steps back.

The dog looked harmless enough, but you never know.

The dog stretched, his lean body looking even thinner as he did so. The dog's head tilted slightly, in something of confusion or curiosity, possibly both.

Then the dog started to move towards Arthur and Arthur didn't know whether to keep still or grab his sword.

The dog seemed to have noticed Arthur's body tense, so it sat down, less than a few feet away from Arthur, and smiled, bloody _smiled_, his pink tongue lolling out of his mouth as he did so.

Arthur was a little taken back, because _'just when the hell did dogs start smiling?' _but the thought faded away as quickly as it came, and he had to admit the dog did look pretty cute and –wow, did he just say cute? Crowned prince Arthur Pendragon did not find things _cute_.

After a moment's thought Arthur began to move towards the dog, still a little wary, but not as tense as he was before.

Once he was in front of the dog, he kneeled down and carefully, very gently, put a hand on the dogs head.

When a second or two passed and the dog didn't react badly, Arthur began stroking the dogs head slowly. He found himself smiling fondly before he even realized he was and honestly? He didn't care.

Arthur's hand made its way behind one of the dog's ears, scratching gently, and the dog's tail began wagging.

Arthur chuckled quietly; they continued on like that for a while, Arthur petting the dog, while the dog just sat there, seemingly content with the contact.

After probably five or so minutes like that, Arthur stopped petting the dog, and the dog let out an immediate whimper in disapproval.

Arthur chuckled again before brushing off his knees and standing, stretching slightly. "They'll be more time for that later," Arthur murmured quietly. "Right now, I need to get some sleep and then solve the mystery of your appearance."

After quickly getting dressed in his night clothes Arthur got into bed and curled under the covers, drifting off to sleep slightly before he heard a soft whimper come from in front of him.

Arthur opened one eye to find the dog standing in front of him, head resting on the bed, blue eyes staring at Arthur pleadingly.

Arthur picked up the hint quickly enough and huffed. "No, you sleep on the floor, see that?" he said sitting up a little, so he could point to the ground. "That's the floor and that's where you sleep." He finished bitterly.

Arthur closed his eyes and tried to sleep but then the dog whimpered again, louder this time, more determined.

Arthur opened his eyes to again see the dog staring at him. "No," Arthur said. "No dogs on the bed." The dog let out a sound that sounded like a mixture between a whimper and a growl.

"Complain all you want, _no dogs on the bed._" And God, he couldn't believe he was arguing with a _dog_.

This time the dog stepped back a little, at first Arthur thought he was giving up, until he saw the dog throw his head back and howl. Fucking _howl_.

"Hey, Hey! Stop that you're gonna scare the shit out of someone." The dog didn't stop, but turned the volume of the howl down slightly.

Arthur swore under his breath, because, he couldn't believe he was going to do this. "Alright, Okay! You win. You can sleep on the bed." Arthur ground out.

The dog immediately stopped howling, let what honestly looked like a triumphant grin pass his face, before jumping on the bed, and curling up next to Arthur.

Arthur wanted to tell the dog to get to the back of the bed, that it was bad enough he was even on his bed in the first place, but he sure as Hell wasn't going to sleep _next_ to him, but he didn't because he didn't know what the dog would do then, and he didn't want to figure out. So instead he just muttered the words "Stubborn ass." And drifted off to sleep.

And although he would never say this out loud, he actually found the dog oddly comforting, and Arthur had a feeling he wouldn't mind having the dog stay a while.


	2. Chapter 2

When Merlin woke he was terrified; he was a dog, abloody _dog_.

He didn't remember how he became a dog, when he became a dog, why he was a dog, he just didn't _know_; but all that did was scare him.

What terrified him was that he couldn't use his magic; he couldn't even _feel _his magic.

He could always feel his magic, it was always a part of Merlin, from the very moment he was born his magic was in him, he could feel it in his soul, in his body, in every part of him, it wouldn't surprise him if he was more magic than he was human.

It used to scare him when he was younger; how much the magic affected him, how it was always there, but now it scared him because it _wasn't_ there, he couldn't feel it anymore.

That weird burning sensation in the pit of his very being, it was gone, and it absolutely terrified him.

He didn't even remember how it happened.

All he remembered was getting a note to meet someone in the woods, he remembered going to the woods, and meeting a man no older than he (possibly younger) and – _oh_.

Merlin growled in frustration, how was he going to get out of this?

Arthur stirred next to him, Merlin tilted his head slightly, how had he gotten in Arthur's chambers? And how the _Hell_ had he gotten in Arthur's _bed_?

Merlin yelped in frustration.

_'Alright, alright, calm down Merlin,_' Merlin thought. '_You'll figure this out later, for now; Arthur needs to get his lazy ass out of bed._'

Merlin silently hopped off of the bed and padded over to Arthur's drapes. Merlin grabbed an edge of the drapes with his mouth and tugged them back until a little sunlight seeped into the room. It took Merlin a while but finally he pulled the drapes back enough to where the sun shone across the whole room.

It took a moment but eventually Merlin heard Arthur groan in annoyance.

"Bloody hell Merlin…" Arthur ground out. "Oh and in case you're wondering, I am fully aware that you were absent all day yesterday, and I would really like to know why… that… is...?" Arthur sentence drifted off when he saw who had opened the drapes.

It wasn't Merlin at all; it was the dog, _the bloody dog_.

"And just what the hell do you think you're doing?" Arthur asked (though he seriously doubted the dog even understood, or cared for that matter).

Merlin ignored Arthur's comment and walked in front of the king sized bed (or should I say… prince sized bed) and looked at him expectantly.

Sadly, Merlin had overslept (thanks for that dog form) Arthur should have been on a hunt; actually he should've been on his hunt a long time ago, _a long, long time ago_.

Merlin wondered why nobody else had come and tried to wake him but then again, it was his job.

Arthur watched as the dog sat in front of his bed and cocked his head to the side slightly.

"What is it?" Arthur asked the dog. "Oh God, please don't tell me you have to use the restroom. Actually please tell me you didn't piss on my floor, I swear if you pissed on my floor I won't hesitate running you through."

'_Well isn't that sweet_.' Merlin thought.

Merlin rolled his eyes and tugged on Arthurs covers, he needed to get out of bed and get hunting _now, _before Uther suspects something and then realizes Merlin's gone and _shit_… what if Uther finds out Merlin's missing? They could replace him, bloody hell, what if they replace him? Then what? Aaaand, what was he supposed to be doing again?

Ah yes, Arthur's a lazy clot pole who needs to get out of bed and go hunting, got it.

Merlin, of course, became less focused on pulling off Arthur's sheets while he was thinking so now his mouth was just sort of hanging onto the covers and his eyes were hazed over in thought and, damn, this must look really, really… _weird_.

Like Merlin predicted it looked really fucking weird because now Arthur was staring at him like he was a deer with three heads.

Merlin let out a frustrated growl, pulled away from the covers and tried to think of ways to get Arthur to realize where he should be.

Merlin paced in circles because; how the hell do you get someone to realize that they should be killing innocent animals _without _talking?

Then it hit him, literally, something hit him, and _ow that actually sort of hurt._

Merlin's head snapped up to see Arthur staring at him wayyyyyyy more confused than before, '_Great,_' Merlin thought. '_Now I'm a deer with five heads_.'

Arthur threw another pillow at the dog to get its attention.

The pillow hit Merlin with a soft thump before falling to the floor. Merlin looked slightly baffled. Couldn't he have just said something?

Merlin gave Arthur his full attention.

Arthur looked slightly pleased when Merlin gave him his attention.

"Alright, thanks to Merlin not showing up for work today I've got to get ready and go hunting by myself today," Arthur began, though he wasn't sure why he was talking to a dog in the first place.

And whoa, _whoa_, **_whoa_**, rewind three words; did Arthur just say he needed to go hunting?

He knew… this whole entire time… that he should be hunting?

Arthur had like zero point three seconds before Merlin tore his throat out because; _ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?_

Merlin tried not to think about killing Arthur while Arthur slung his legs over the side of the bed and began to get dressed.

Merlin watched as Arthur tried to get dressed. It was quite amusing really, a grown man, the crowned Prince of Camelot, a man being part of a destiny so big it literally decided the fate of the entire world, this man right here, was the same man who could barely put on his own shirt without need of assistance.

It took Arthur nearly forty minutes to put his clothes on correctly and another twenty to lace up his boots.

Merlin honestly had no idea how this man survived even survived two seconds without his help.

When Arthur was ready to go, unconsciously, Merlin began to follow Arthur out the door. Arthur didn't notice for a moment but when he did he lightly pushed the dog back in the room.

"I would bring you, really, I would but just how the hell am I supposed to get you out without people noticing?"

Merlin normally wouldn't have cared, he hated hunting trips but he had this gut feeling that something was going to happen, nothing bad, but it wasn't good either.

Merlin let out a whimper in protest.

Arthur shook his head. "No, stay, do you understand me? Stay… and I swear if you howl, I'll knock you out and then you'll have no choice but to stay put."

Merlin didn't really believe him but he didn't push his luck, just in case he was serious.

Merlin let out another whimper, louder this time but not too loud. He needed to go with him, something just wasn't right, he could feel it.

Arthur sighed. "You probably could use a good run couldn't you? It's not really fair to keep you cooped up here all day."

Wow, if this was how Arthur was going to act every time Merlin whimpered he could probably get away with anything. A part of Merlin wished he could just stick out his lower lip and whimper a few times and get out of chores and things but that was never going to happen.

While Merlin was thinking about the perks of being able to do and get pretty much whatever he wanted; Arthur had started staring at the dog.

He was one hundred and ten percent sure he had seen those eyes before; they were so familiar it almost _hurt_.

By that time Merlin had noticed Arthur staring and cocked his head to the side in curiosity.

Arthur noticed the abrupt change of the dog's attitude and stopped staring, it was probably nothing anyway.

Arthur glanced at the door and then at the dog, he sighed heavily, looked at the dog one last time before shaking his head firmly. "Not today, alright? Maybe later, or tomorrow, I just need time to think." Arthur knelt down in front of the dog and rubbed behind his unusually large ears for a moment before leaving his chambers.

Merlin didn't bother howling, there wasn't a point, but Merlin couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to go terribly wrong.

* * *

Arthur was heading back to Camelot; he was empty handed, he hadn't caught a thing, and he didn't know why. He just couldn't focus, something was off, something was _really_ off.

Then he heard a rustle nearby and Arthur was at full alert in seconds.

Arthur had his crossbow out, poised, and ready for fire.

He heard another rustle, this time accompanied by a quick flash of a shadow.

From what Arthur saw, it was a human's shadow. Now Arthur was worried, what if it was a bandit? What if it was somebody from rival territory? What if there was more than one person?

When Arthur heard footsteps coming near them he aimed his crossbow towards the noise, without a second thought he fired.

Arthur heard a piercing noise and almost felt proud, until the figure slowly walked out of the shadows, completely un-harmed.

The figure (that Arthur guessed was a man) walked into view with an arrow in his hand.

"I believe this is yours." He said holding the arrow out towards Arthur.

Arthur observed the man as quickly as possible.

He was young, from what he could tell, no more than sixteen, he was wearing a long black cloak with a hood. Not much was visible; practically all you could see was his pale skin and piercing emerald green eyes.

Arthur raised his crossbow again and pointed it straight at the boys head. "You have five seconds to tell me who you are and what you want or I'll shoot."

The boy looked slightly offended. "Well that's not very polite, now is it, Arthur Pendragon?"

Arthur stiffened upon hearing the words but kept firm. "Three seconds." Arthur ground out.

"Either you don't know the meaning of polite or you really are just that rude."

Arthur shot.

The shot was clear and precise but the boy didn't move, he didn't even flinch he just watched as the arrow came closer.

The arrow was less than an inch away when it happened, the boy's eyes flashed gold and the arrow came to an abrupt halt and then fell into the boy's open palm.

"Well then, would you like to take another shot, or can we just talk calmly like I planned?" The boy asked with the slightest of smirks.

Arthur wanted to shoot again, wanted to shoot until that stupid smirk was clear off of his face but there was no point. The boy was a sorcerer, he had no chance, Arthur inhaled shakily before responding. "What do you want sorcerer?"

"Well before we talk about that, we might as well get to know each other." The boy pulled his hood down to reveal his face.

The boy had raven black hair that stopped right past the ears; his hair had slight curls to them, his dark black hair made him look even paler.

The boy's eyes stood out even more once the hood was removed; they were incredibly fascinating, Arthur quickly noticed that the boy's right eye had a swirl of silver and – the hell? Is he seriously sitting here gawking over some boy's eyes?

Arthur shook it off quickly and went back to examining.

He was tall, taller than Arthur, from the looks of it. He was skinny, but Arthur couldn't tell if that was because he was so tall or because he was just a bit underweight, maybe it was both.

Once Arthur was satisfied with his examination he spoke. "Well, as you already know I'm Arthur, Arthur Pendragon."

The boy grinned a little. "My name's Adam, Merlin's half brother."

* * *

Author's note: So sorry it took me so long to update, I've been really busy these past few weeks. Also I recently adopted a 8 week old lab puppy soooo I'm gonna be a little busier than usual so if it takes me a long time to update again that'll most likely be why. I should be able to upload a new chapter by Sunday or Monday.


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